Pen Pals
by PastelLace
Summary: Artemis Crock doesn't want to talk about her past to anybody. So when her school, along with another anonymous school, decides to start a penpal assignment, Artemis never knew how much it could change her life forever. Spitfire.
1. Prologue

**Pen Pals**

**Summary: **Artemis Crock doesn't want to talk about her past to anybody. So when her school, along with another anonymous school, decides to start a penpal assignment, Artemis never knew how much it could change her life forever. Spitfire (Perhaps, other couples too).

**Author's Notes/Warning: **This is _"somewhat AU_," and some characters will be (or most likely be… or even could be) OOC.

I do not own Young Justice—if I did, episodes would have been out much quicker. Much, much quicker.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<br>**

Robin had his arms crossed, leaning against a few crates as he watched his best friend, Wally West, go at it again. They were bantering again, like a married couple. Normally, on regular basics, he would enjoy watching the two squabble on and on as if there was no tomorrow, but right then… he wasn't in the mood.

"Those two really need to get along," a deep voice behind him stated, causing him to whirl around. Batman emerged from the darkness of the cave, masked and hidden under his costume. "A team can't cooperate functionally unless everyone's willing to put aside their differences and work together in harmony."

Robin, along with Zatanna, M'gann, and Conner, immediately looked at Kaldur'ahm, who had a wearied, tired look on his face. "I have tried everything to get these two to get along," Kaldur'ahm admitted. "But no matter what I've done or said, these two will not listen to me."

"Well," Batman said, looking at the rest of the team. "Surely, you haven't tried hard enough as those two are still going at it."

Robin looked at Conner, who had his arms crossed, folded against his chest. "Maybe it's a sign from the universe to tell us to stop trying," Conner finally said, looking at Wally and Artemis, who were still throwing words back and forth at each other.

"Well," Batman replied, looking at the Kryptonian. "It has to stop. And soon."

**-x-**

Artemis Crock hated skirts. If anything, she'd much rather exchange the uniform she was sporting and trade it in for her favorite brown jacket and jeans, clothes that she's familiar with. Clothes that make her feel safe. Wearing a skirt made her feel… somewhat revealing. And she wasn't the type of person who would like to reveal anything.

Bette Kane, the blond next to her, was her student liaison and one of her few new friends she has made since she had began attending this school. The two of them, just like the rest of their English class, were seated in the school's one-of-many expensive computer labs. "I wonder why we're here," Bette finally said, running her hand nervously through her long locks. "Normally, Ms. Rosette would actually give us a heads-up on what is to come for our class."

Before Artemis could reply, their English teacher walked into the computer lab. A young woman, with her caramel locks up in a messy bun, walked to the front of the class.

"Sorry I'm late, class," Ms. Rosette spoke, a sweet smile appearing on her face as she added, "I was going over a few last-minute details with the other professors to why we're in here today." She handed the stack of papers to one of the kids who were seated near her. "Pass them out, will you, James?" She turned her attention back to the rest of the class. "A few days ago, our school, along with another anonymous school in another state has agreed to do a program that's sponsored by an anonymous donor."

"That sure is a lot of anonymous," Artemis muttered softly as she cocked her head; her hands were on her skirt, trying to pull them down over her knees. Bette turned to her and shushed her. She gave her friend a meek smile and returned her attention to her English teacher.

"As I was saying," her English teacher continued, ignoring Artemis's comment, "since our school has agreed to do this program, it'll give our students a better chance to develop relations with those 'outside our walls,' if you will."

"So this is a pen pal experiment?" Garrett O'Callaghan, the boy seated across from Artemis, asked.

"No, Garrett," Ms. Rosette replied, shaking her hands. "This is a program that our school has agreed to do to help our students develop better relationships with students outside of their school, and learn about how similar and different our lives vary from theirs."

"So this is a pen pal _program_?" Garrett asked again, causing a few students around him to snicker.

"_No _Garrett, it isn't," Ms. Rosette hissed, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes. Looking at the rest of the class, she let out a sigh before she continued. "As I was saying," Ms. Rosette said once again, crossing her arms, "this will affect your grades in this class, as everybody your year is required to do this. It'll be a major factor to as whether or not you'll pass or fail this class."

Bette immediately turned to Artemis. "I can't believe this," Bette hissed, her arms folded against her chest. "Ms. R never gives us anything this extreme."

"It must be funded by some very important anonymous person, then," Artemis commented, crossing her arms. "I mean, why else would our school even agreed to this? It seems like a very dumb idea."

"What if you don't want to do this assignment?" another student, a boy whose name Artemis couldn't remember, asked. "Because this 'program'"—he made air quote motions with his fingers—"sounds boring." She guessed that the boy had another word he had wanted to associate with the program was something a bit more vulgar than the word, "boring."

But she couldn't care less, because she wasn't going to take the program seriously. It was just a silly new program that was being tested out, that's all.

"Yes, you do. In fact, thank you Danny, for reminding me," Ms. Rosette said, causing half of the class to groan in silence. "It's mandatory for all of you to participate in this assignment."

Artemis couldn't help but shoot him a dirty look as she was handed a bunch of papers from James, who then went on to hand out papers to Bette.

"Isn't this exciting?" Bette asked, glancing at the papers in front of her.

"Yes, exciting," Artemis replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Looking at her paper, her eyes widen in alarm as she saw her name printed on the paper. "Wait, our names are our usernames? Wouldn't this—erm—cause some troubles for those who want to keep their identity a… _secret_?"

Ms. Rosette looked at her, acknowledging her question. "Why, yes, Artemis. Thank you for pointing that out. The second you log in onto the server, you all are required to change your username to your liking. Keep in mind, I—along with a few others—will be monitoring and going over what is going back and forth for the next few weeks… so no usernames that expresses profanity or anything offensive that you wouldn't want your mother to find out about."

Artemis couldn't help but stared at her computer screen in disbelief. _Oh, I am so going to BS this._

-x-

Wally West had his legs strategically propped against the desk he was at so that he wouldn't accidentally kick the computer that was in front of him. He was drowning his English teacher out; a drum solo was repeatedly going over and over in his head. It wasn't until the girl next to him elbowed him in the gut did he pay any attention to his teacher.

"—however, our school is being funded to even participate in this program," Mr. Harley said, tugging at his loose tie. He licked his lips nervously before adding, "And that's why our class—along with every other sophomore English class in Keystone High School is participating in this program."

Wally immediately looked at the girl next to him, a skeptical look on his face. "Did you really have to jab me?" he asked, pulling his feet off the desk.

"Coming from the guy who's barely passing every class, yes," she replied.

"Hey, a C-plus is 'average,'" Wally replied, crossing his arms. He leaned further back in his chair, and went back to listening to his teacher go on and on about how it was such an honor for their school to be chosen, from out of a hundred other schools in the country that had been eligible.

"This is a required assignment," Mr. Harley said, emphasizing on the word, "required." For a second, Wally thought that his English teacher was glaring at him. "And for those of you who are barely passing… this will either bring your grade up or… down, depending on how serious you are when it comes to this assignment."

He walked over to the whiteboard besides the screen for the projector, and immediately scribbled down the website's name in long, wiry letters. "This is the website that you all are must log on to. Your username is your last name, underscore, first name. The second that you've logged on, you're required to come up with your own username. Do not use any dirty words in your new username, as it will require you to come up with a new one. We'll be going here twice every week for the next few weeks."

Wally looked at the screen in front of him. It He could tell it was an old computer, as it was running on Window XP. _If Robin was here, he would have complained about a lack of upgrade. _Quickly logging onto the computer, he quickly clicked onto the internet browser. After typing away at a swiftly speed; he quickly logged into his account and changed his username.

To his surprise, he had already had a random person picked and assigned to him. _I need to pass this class, _he thought to himself. _Or mom will have a cow._

_Dear whoever that will receive this,_

_I'm going to be honest here. I don't know you, you don't know me. But seeing as how this assignment will determine whether or not I'll pass or fail this class ( and since I'm on the brink of either passing or failing) I'm going to need you to cooperate with me._

_I'm pretty sure this assignment is important in your class as well, which is why I'm going to reason with you. We can talk about anything, really. Just as long as I'm passing this assignment, I'm pretty chill with everything else._

_Reply, post haste._

_SpeedsterX._

-x-

Artemis stared at her screen in a mix of shock, anger, and confusion. _How do I reply to this? Do I help the poor guy out or do I screw him over for sounding like a complete jerk?_

She quickly glanced over to the left of the screen, where her pen pal's name was still bolded, letting her know that her pen pal was still online. Moving the arrow over to the username, she quickly debated whether or not she should contact the person, right then and there, and tell the person off. Instead, she decided to reply to his email instead.

_Dear speedsterx,_

_Give me a few reasons why I should help you. Maybe then, just maybe, I'll help you._

_A._

She barely even had a few minutes to herself, when she received a reply.

_Because I'm awesome._

_No, seriously. I am._

For some odd reason, she couldn't help but smirk at his odd, yet funny reply. She started to wonder whether or not it would be a good idea to finally have somebody to talk to without having to freak out over the fact that they would judge her. It would be nice to finally find somebody to open up to. Maybe, she could finally get all of the words off of her chest of everything that she had to keep silent over.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **And so, the trouble begins. Wally and Artemis don't know that they're penpals, and they're not going to find out (until much, much later).

As much as I was giggling over the fact that I had to type Robin and Batman, instead of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, I have to remember that no one on the team (besides Wally, I think… I'm not sure… but I think Wally knows about Robin and Batman's identity) knows who the heck Robin and Batman really are.

Anyways, comment/review? It'll be very much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/N: **Huh, I actually thought I would have had this chapter posted way before episode 25 came out—oh wells. I have warned you guys that this is an AU fic, it will not—from this point—follow the show: Since I do not want to include Rocket until much later, and I do not want the team to find out who the mole is until later—or their secrets to be revealed. Some of this fic will not follow along the plot that the show has created, as if I do try to follow the plot of the show, I will get a headache trying to keep it as canon as possible. And after seeing the first episode of the 2nd season, I hope you'll realize that I'm probably going to steer it into a different direction that doesn't follow the timeline of the show.

_I do not own Young Justice. The only thing I own is any spelling errors and grammar errors below (if there are any)._

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Beginning. <strong>

"Is it me or is it awfully quiet today?" Zatanna asked, looking at M'gann. The two of them were lounging in her room, going over fashion magazines in hopes that they would find something that would inspire their next outfit. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand, and her left eyebrow shot up. "Wow, it really is quiet today."

"Perhaps Wally and Artemis are getting along?" M'gann suggested, looking up from the page that she was on. A frown appeared on her face as she shook her head. "We all know that that can't happen—but we can always hope." She pushed her red hair over her shoulders, giving Zatanna a weak smile.

"I don't think Wally and Artemis are here," Zatanna finally said, turning off her radio with the small, silver remote in her hands. She looked at M'gann, an alarmed look appeared on her face. "Did you hear something?"

The two girls were immediately on alert as they heard what appeared to be explosions coming from the living room. M'gann and Zatanna immediately raced towards the living room, only to be shocked at the sight of Kaldur'ahm, Robin, Wally, and Conner seated in front of the television; all of them calm and glued to the television program that was broadcasting at the moment.

"You girls alright?" Kaldur'ahm asked, looking at them. He glanced at them for a brief second from the corner of his eyes.

"We thought we heard an explosion," M'gann replied meekly, looking at the television from the corner of her eyes.

"You did," Wally replied, nodding, "From the TV, of course. It's this brilliant show, Young Titans. It's about a bunch of teenagers who were brought together to fight evil and all that. Some of them have superpowers, and it's crazy how they were all inspired by their mentors, who are just as awesome as they are." He quickly glanced at his smart-phone before returning his attention towards the television screen.

"I thought that the TV was broken," Zatanna said, exchanging glances with M'gann. "I mean, isn't that why the TV's feed is always static?"

"It was," Conner replied, grumpily, "but then Robin fixed it."

Robin flashed Zatanna and M'gann a smug smile, giving them both a small wave from where he sat. "Speedy—correction, Red Arrow—kind of had a fit over the fact that there was only one channel that the TV was playing."

"The static channel," Wally commented, his sea green eyes still locked on the screen.

"Well, where is Red Arrow?" Zatanna asked, glancing at the empty seat between where Robin and Conner sat.

"Out," Conner grunted. A look of annoyance appeared on his face when Wally's hands shot out in the air, waving the smart-phone frantically. "C'mon—signal! _Signal!_"

"Signal what?" M'gann asked, confused.

"I think he meant his phone's reception when he was referring to signal," Kaldur'ahm said, a smile surpassing his lips as he watched Wally shake his smart-phone.

"Who are you texting?" Zatanna asked, quickly interested. Immediately, everyone—except Wally—glared at her. She gave them a weak shrug. "Wouldn't hurt to know," she mouthed. There had been a bet going around among the team, as the holidays were coming around the corners. At first, the gang would make silly bets—such as whether or not Conner would get upset over the giant plush monkey that Wally had left in Conner's closet—or to see how long they could trick Wally into believing that the world around him was slowing down every second.

"Some girl," Wally replied.

"As in Artemis?" M'gaan asked. She has always assumed that the two of them would be together, as her knowledge from television shows her uncle would broadcast back home on Mars would portray, the two friends that fought the most only fought each other due to attraction towards one another, and their denial of attraction towards one another. Usually, they would end up either the cutest couple ever or the most dysfunctional couple ever.

Wally looked up at her, his eyebrows knitted together. "Nope. This girl I met online—"

"You resorted to online dating?" Kaldur'ahm teased, his eyes crinkling as a kind smile appeared on his face. "Wally, you are still young—and there is that human saying, 'there's always more fishes in the sea.'"

Wally snorted. "Ha, ha. Very funny guys. It's a homework assignment. We're supposed to keep in contact with one another, get along, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da. I think it's stupid, but hey—who am I to judge?"

-x-

Artemis could feel her smart-phone going off again, as she was reaching towards the highest shelf, where the last bottle of honey was. _Not now_, she thought as the back of her hand gently brushed the bottle. Her hand was practically swatting the shelf as she tried to grip the bottle. A grin appeared on her face the second her hand curled around the bottle, right before she tossed the bottle of honey into the grocery cart that she had been pushing around.

Nudging the cart towards the produce section with the wrist of her hands, she quickly pulled her smart-phone out of her back pocket. "Another text, from Speedster X. Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Stopping in the middle of the aisle, she quickly scanned through his messages.

_So, "A,"_

_Is there any more letters to follow that, or will I have to picture myself speaking with a letter of the alphabet? I kid, I kid. But seriously though, any more letters after that?_

"Move!" a lady from behind her shouts, a look of frustration on her face as she tapped her foot impatiently onto the floor. "Some of us aren't getting younger, ya'know?"

Artemis immediately pushed her cart to the side, allowing the lady and others to pass on by, before glancing back at her smart-phone.

_My friends believe that I'm not doing this pen pal assignment, but that I'm actually doing those silly online-dating websites._

She couldn't help but snort, a grin appearing on her face. Pushing her cart closer to the produce aisle, she quickly started to text a reply to him.

_You might as well troll your friends. Give them a run for their money._

Glancing at the sea of red and yellow apples in front of her, she immediately started to wonder what name she would give to him. She could go with the obvious, and tell him her name—but that was the last thing she needed. What happens if the person that was her pen pal was close friends with one of her teammates? _You'd never know_. Thinking, she immediately started to list off a few things in her head. _Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt and the moon. Well—I could go with Apollo, her twin, but that's a guy… Think, Artemis. Greek goddesses or mythology with A—Aphrodite? No way in hell. Atalanta. Besides, she's a great hunter as well._

Looking at the two sentences she had texted out so far, she continued to add to it.

_As for the namesake, it's Atalanta. I know, Greek._

The second she sent her text to him, she knew she had to hurry up and finish her grocery shopping—she had her job to get too. What she would give to forget about her responsibilities for one day, and just sit back and relax. If it wasn't hunting down and fighting bad guys one minute, she's busy catching up on homework that she always has to put aside.

Grabbing random apples from the stack, she quickly gave them a cursory glance before stuffing them into a plastic bag. She didn't mind doing the grocery shopping—someone had to. With her mother in a wheelchair, the task of being the provider for the family fell on her. It wasn't much of a burden to her; she knew that somebody had to be there for her mother. Especially since her sister and father out of the picture of what used to be their family.

She barely made it to the check-out lane when she received another text.

_I know somebody that has a Greek name._

-x-

There was something about his pen pal, "Atalanta," who reminded him of someone… he just couldn't place his finger on it. But before he could come up with some reasonable explanation as to why this "Atalanta" girl reminded him of somebody, he felt a painful jab in his stomach, realizing that his best friend had just elbowed him. "Dude, I—"

Robin shot him a dirty look—technically, he tried to shoot him a dirty look, as the sunglasses that concealed his eyes and his identity to the rest of the team also concealed the dirty look he was trying to give him—before whispering to him, "With suspicions and names being thrown around about who the mole could be, it's not a safe idea to communicate with the 'outside world.' Who knows what crazy theory Red Arrow might come up with next."

Zatanna shook her head, looking towards their direction. "I highly doubt Red Arrow would think you're the mole, Wally. I mean, it's obvious who his top three suspects are."

Wally grimaced. "Not this again. What if it's just a trick—a lie? What if there is no mole. I mean, Supey, wouldn't do it. He's too busy brooding over the fact that Superman is basically doing everything he can to avoid him."

"I heard that," Conner grunted, glaring at the redhead. "And I'm not buy brooding over him," he added, folding his arms over his chest, a scowl appearing on his face.

Wally let out a few nervous chuckles. "And M'gann—she's just too sweet and loyal. And c'mon—she saved that Garfield Logan boy's life. And-and she bakes the best cookies ever."

Kaldur glanced at him. "It's nice to see that you're defending Conner and M'gann, Wally—but what do you feel about Artemis?"

"Artemis?" Wally snorted. "What about her?"

"She is just as loyal to the team—perhaps even more—as the rest of us are," Kaldur'ahm said, glancing at him. "She's always trying to prove herself to the team Wally. Maybe it would be nice of you if you weren't so hard on her?"

"When am I ever hard on her?" Wally asked, staring at Kaldur'ahm in confusion. It was right then that he realized that everyone was staring at him. "R-right. Roger that." He quickly glanced at his smart-phone, realizing that "Atalanta" had sent him another message when he was busy talking to the team.

_That's funny. We could have a shindig. Throw some wild parties for everyone who has a name after someone in the Greek Mythology._

He couldn't help but chuckle at what he had just read. Why couldn't some of the people in his life have that kind of a personality? Glancing at Conner, he couldn't see Conner with a personality like that. Everybody on the team was unique when it came to personalities. It was hard for him to see anybody on the team with that kind of personality. Especially Artemis, whom he always bickered with.

Sure, she was pretty—and was actually cool sometimes… but he wasn't going to tell her that. Ever. He's too stubborn to admit that. She'd probably never let him forget it, and that's the last thing he—or his pride—needed. Besides, they had another fight as of recently. Over personal space.

It was just the eight of them; Zatanna, M'gann, Conner, Kaldur'ahm, Robin, Artemis, Red Arrow, and him on a mission that Batman had deployed him on. They were supposed to look for evidence of where Cheshire was last seen. Originally, a mission meant for just Red Arrow, Kaldur'ahm, Robin, and him, himself, the second the rest of the team found out that they were given a mission, they had wanted to tag along too.

He couldn't blame them. Nobody wants to be cooped up in one place for such a long time.

A simple mission, which was what Batman had described it to be. They were to find evidence, pick up her trail, and notify the league as soon as possible. Somehow, when the team split up to cover more grounds, both Artemis and he got stuck with patrol the perimeters. He couldn't remember the mission precisely; all he could remember was that the two of them were fighting over being stuck with one another while the rest of the team was to surveil the abandoned warehouse, where Cheshire was last seen.

All he could remember was that there was a lot of fighting between the two of them, a lot of words that even his mother would be ashamed to hear coming from his mouth were being tossed around, and a lot of yelling. They were so busy yelling at each other, they were oblivious to the fact that there were a few bad guys lurking in the shadow, waiting for the right moment to ambush them. Cheshire had been prepared for them from the start.

It was a miracle that they all made it out alive, and with just a few minor injuries too. Of course, the mission—the "easy" mission that Batman has assigned them on—was a bust. And when the two of them found out that it was kind of their fault that the rest of the team, including them, were ambushed, they immediately started pointing the finger at each other, and the fighting between them continues. Hey, it wasn't his fault that she has a personality of a cactus sometimes. And no matter how many times M'gann or Zatanna tries to tell him either wise, until he sees it… he's not going to believe it.

"So, how long is it before you apologize to Artemis?" his best friend asked, glancing at him. It was as if his best friend had just read his mind. "I mean, it's not entirely her fault."

"I am not going to apologize for something I didn't do," Wally murmured.

"You know that we don't blame you—or Artemis—for what happened on our last mission, right?" M'gann asked, looking at him with curiosity and concern.

"It's not my fault! It's Artemis," Wally hissed. "She's always—"

"She's always what?" Everybody in the room—including Wally—turned to their left to see Artemis standing a few feet away from them, her hands on her hip.

"It's nice to know that when I'm not here, my teammates talk behind my back," Artemis said, her tone slightly icy. She turned on her heels and walked towards the direction that she had come from.

"Nice going," Robin hissed, elbowing his friend in the stomach.

"You should really be nicer to her," M'gann softly said.

Wally didn't know how to respond to that. For some strange, odd reason, he just felt crummy on the inside. _But how do you apologize to someone you never get along with without offending her?_

-x-

"He will apologize," M'gann said, putting her hand on Artemis's shoulder. "He's just… stubborn sometimes. He tends to be closed-minded on some things for a while. But he'll get there."

Artemis shrugged, hugging her knees. "I don't care." It was a lie. She did care a little bit, perhaps even more than a little bit. Hearing her smart-phone go off, alerting her that she has received another message from her pen pal.

_I need your help. I think I messed up bad time._

_Speedster X._

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I'm so, so sorry for the late update. I _normally_ update once every week, but this month was so hectic for me (State testing, which will occur for the next three weeks for me, prepping for SATs, etc). So, apparently, in this fic, Red Arrow's part of the team. Rocket will be part of the team—but probably towards the end of this fic (I'm not sure yet. I haven't worked out the plot yet).

Young Titans, the TV show that Wally and the boys were watching: A parody in where it's a mix between Teen Titans and Young Justice. I don't know how I came up with this, the idea just popped into my head where the team would be watching Young Titans and criticizing the characters that are a counterpart to them.

Atalanta, the name that Artemis picked for the pen-pal assignment. Besides the obvious fact that the name is Greek, just like Artemis, I picked it because in Greek myth, Atalanta was a great hunter. I don't know—the name made sense to me a while back.

Yes, the fighting that happened in the prologue (the previous chapter) was due to their last mission. I know what you're thinking: why are they fighting so much? Because they kind of do fight a lot on the show—in the beginning, of course. But things will change. With the pen-pal assignment, they will start to understand each other better (and not their pen pal personas, but their real personas).

So, who saw the episode "Happy New Year?" I'm still in denial to as what has happened. They split up my OTP, and now I'm just in a state of denial. For those of you who have seen the episode, whether it was online, on tv, or etc, you'd know what I was talking about. If you haven't seen it, you should see it. Hopefully, things will start making sense sooner or later on YJ Invasion. Until then, I need to get traught.

Thank you:** PerfectlyStrange, Wileylove, Awesomepossom, fixati0ns, cary99, jojoandkristinaRbamfZ, froggy, Irenerb, Valkry1, YJ-lover, randommonkeyz998, YJfang141516, fearinourminds, ArcaneHex77, Abbie Brown, Dextra2, Feather Gambler, piratechicka, wallyxartemisyjlover, DxS4ever, anon (squared), and young justice lover** for commenting/reviewing and to everyone else for adding this story to subscription/favorite. You would not believe how spammed my email got and how hectic it got when I was trying to find an email that my friend had sent to me. Seriously though, you guys are awesome.

**Anyways, comment/review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 2: Enter Dick Grayson

**Chapter 2: Enter **_**Dick**_** Grayson.**

"Dick. Buddy. Pal. _Amigo._ You're my best friend, and the only advice you can offer me is to _apologize_ to Artemis?" Wally asked in disbelief, staring at his raven haired friend incredulously.

"What could go wrong?" Robin replied, stirring his straw through the shake that he had ordered. The two of them were seated at a local Central City diner, deciding to treat themselves out before heading over to Wally's aunt's house to help her clean out the attic.

"I could lose my sense of dignity," Wally cried, shaking his head. "This is why I never come to you for help."

"And this is why you never have a friendship with the opposite sex that lasts for more than three weeks—"

"There's M'gann!"

"She doesn't count. She's nice to everybody," Robin replied, smirking. "You should have just apologized to her before this gets way out of hand."

"I—but—she's_ Artemis_."

Robin rolled his eyes. "And I'm Dick"—his face was blank when he heard Wally snicker—"and you're a five-year-old."

"I can't help that you were given the world's most unfortunate name in the world," Wally chimed, still snickering.

"Says _Wallace_," Robin shot back. "But I'm being serious here. She can be rough around the edges when it comes to you, but she's still a human being. She's not Satan—"

"Maybe she is. We should do a background search just to be safe—"

"She's not," Robin replied firmly.

"How would you know? It's not like she's walking around with a certificate that says, '100% not Satan!'" Wally pointed out.

Robin stared at his best friend with an incredulous look on his face. "Apologize to her, before this turns into a bigger fiasco."

"But—"

"No buts."

A sour expression appeared on Wally's freckled face. "_Fine_."

-x-

"You know what I think is odd?" M'gann said to nobody in particular, as she gently placed the bowl of cake batter onto the kitchen counter.

Zatanna looked up from her history homework just as Conner shifted his attention from Wolf to his girlfriend.

"What's odd?" Conner asked as he gently scratched Wolf's ear.

M'gann stood there in silence for a few seconds, trying to figure out the best way to express what she was thinking about without stumbling over her words. How could she explain to Zatanna and Conner that she couldn't help but notice how strange it was that both Wally and Artemis were both doing the pen pal assignment, and how odd it was that Artemis' pen pal messaged her during the same time frame that Wally had insulted her? But it was just her mind wandering off, she decided. "Never mind. My mind's just all over the place."

-x-

"It seems to me that your pen pal is a jerk," Bette finally said, as she placed her burger down onto her tray. She picked up a piece of fry, before stating, "He wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for his rude behavior in the first place."

"Well, at least he's not as bad as this one guy I know," Artemis replied flatly.

Bette's left brow shot up. "You know, I always hear you talk about a bunch of your other friends, but I've yet to meet them. They don't go to the same school we go to, am I right?"

"Um, yeah," Artemis replied, nodding.

"Would there be any chance that I'd meet them soon?"

"Not likely," Artemis replied. "Most of them go to Happy Harbor High."

"Happy Harbor High?" Bette laughed. "That cesspool of superheroes?"

"Hey, Gotham has its fair share of superheroes too," Artemis shot back. She paused for a second. "Okay, but seriously, we need to help out my pen pal out."

"He should just apologize to her."

"He says that it's not going to cut it."

"Who did he offend? The Queen of Sheba?" Bette inquired, pointing her fry at Artemis. "Girls may get upset, girls may overreact to certain things, but girls always accept apologizes, just as long as they're heartfelt and sincere."

-x-

"Wally, your aunt has said it. Your friend has said it. Heck, even your pen pal that doesn't even know you just said it. You should really apologize to Artemis for insulting her," Wally's uncle, Barry, stated, as he placed the box he was carrying down besides a few other boxes.

"I didn't mean to insult her!" Wally exclaimed.

"Then tell her that," Robin replied, trying his best not to sound exasperated. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"She could shoot me!" Wally hissed. "And have you seen how better she has gotten in the last few months? She actually has a bigger chance of shooting me!"

Robin's left brow could be seen raised from his aviator sunglasses. "So, you _have_ been paying attention to her lately?"

Wally's face turned a slight shade of red. "No!" he choked, shaking his head profusely. "It's just obvious that she's doing a lot better, because she's taking down a lot more baddies in a shorter amount of time."

Robin snorted. "That was probably one of the nicest things you've ever said about her."

"Coming from me, this will probably be the only nice thing I'll ever say about her," Wally shot back, folding his arm against his chest.

"Imagine when she finds out—"

Wally's green eyes flashed as he glared at his best friend. "No! You can't tell her. I don't want this to get to her head. She'll never let me forget this!"

Robin couldn't help but snort again. "I think you've gotten her mixed up with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wally asked, pretending to sound hurt.

"You let everything go to your head," Robin pointed out.

"Ouch."

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"Not really, _Dick_," he muttered under his breath.

-x-

By the time Artemis entered the cave, she was greeted with the aroma of fresh baked cookies and the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.

"Artemis!" M'gann cried out, the second Artemis stepped foot into the kitchen. "We were just talking about you."

She automatically stopped in her track, and stared at Wally, Robin, and M'gann with a dumbfounded look on her face. "You guys were?"

"Nothing bad, of course," Robin was quick to intervene. "We were just talking about how you were missing out on these cookies. These are the best batch that M'gann has ever made," he stated, causing the Martian girl beside him to beam.

"Help yourself to some," M'gann offered, sliding the plate of cookies across the kitchen counter towards Artemis.

Artemis barely had the time to pick up one of M'gann's chocolate chip cookie when Wally had approached her.

"Hey, Artemis. Can I talk to you?" Wally asked, with a hint of sincerity in his voice. "In private," he emphasized.

"Uh, yeah. Sure?" Artemis said, gently placing the cookie back on the plate.

They both walked out into the hallway, far away from the kitchen door so that a certain boy wonder couldn't hear what they were saying.

After spending a few seconds pacing back and forth, Wally looked at her and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Artemis' eyes widened. "I'm surprised that word is even part of your vocabulary."

Wally let out a sigh. He quickly stared at the ground between the two of them. "I deserve that. I-I shouldn't have blamed you for what happened on that mission. We were both on patrol duties, not just you. It was equally my fault, and I shouldn't have tried to shift the blame on you. And I shouldn't have tried to convince the team that it was your fault, just because it feels like I have it out against you. I honestly don't… have it against you, I mean. You just-you get on my nerves sometimes, and I don't know why. And you're infuriating and you make me feel so confused at times and—argh." He finally looked up and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

-x-

"Did you know, he's apologizing to her after he got advice from a bunch of people telling him to apologize to her?" Robin stated, as he took a seat on the stool besides M'gann.

"Really?" M'gann giggled. "I can't believe it. Shouldn't one person have been enough?"

"He wouldn't go and apologize to her until he finally got advice from his pen pal," Robin snorted.

"Hmm, that's funny," M'gann replied, a confused look appearing on her face.

"What's funny?" Robin asked, looking at her.

"I just think it's odd that Wally received advice from his pen pal around the same time Artemis gave advice to her pen pal."

A strange look appeared on Robin's face. "You don't think—"

"It's just a coincident, that's all," M'gann said, letting out a small laugh. "I mean, what are the odds of Wally and Artemis being each others' pen pal?"

"Yeah," Robin replied flatly, staring at the cookie in front of him. "What are the odds?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Wow. Thank you to all of those who kept on private messaging me, reminding me (demanding me [I kid, I kid!]) to update this fic. There were so many nice, sweet responses to this idea I had of a fic. And I'm really surprised that so many of you guys are still waiting, despite how long it has been since the last update. (Almost a year! Crikey. I'm surprised nobody threatened me to update!)

Thank you to all of those who favored, followed, reviewed, and etc to this story. It made my day to see how terribly spammed my email was.

I will try to update this as soon as possible. I won't take a year to update this again, I swear.

Thank you for your patience and kindness.

**Comment/Review? It'd be very much appreciated!**


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